Never Alone
by CALLEN37
Summary: Sequel to Where were you? Tim McGee, fights his head injury and his feelings to dispel his notion that he is always alone and not important to the team, will they be able to convince him in time.
1. Chapter 1

A/N Thank you to Crawcolady who P.M'd me and figured out that Where were you? Needed a sequel. So this is it.

As always I do not own this, the ownership of anyone or anything you recognize belongs to Don. Bellasario. Anything you don't…that's mine.

* * *

Never Alone.

Chapter 1

Tim walked into the hospital with Ducky, he had promised Gibbs he'd get his head looked at, the skull fracture he had suffered was giving him the worst headache he'd had in years.

Ducky sat beside his bed as the doctor talked with him about the results of the x-ray, Tim zoned out he didn't want to know.

"You need to have someone keep an eye on you for 48 hours." Ducky said.

Tim nodded absently.

"Do you have someone?" Ducky asked.

Tim shrugged, "Don't think so, thought I did, but nope…not me…all alone…forever alone, not wanted, not needed, just a drone." Tim babbled as the painkillers from the hospital took effect.

"Maybe I should call Jethro?" Ducky thought aloud.

"Why?" Tim asked, "He doesn't care…not unless he needs me to fix his email, I'm not important to the team Ducky." Tim turned and looked out of the window at the Washington night sky.

"Nonsense my boy, you are very important to the team."

"Only because they need me to work their computers, if I were that important Ducky they'd be here."

Ducky looked around, he had to admit, when one of the group were hurt or injured they did tend to rally around, but then DiNozzo's father was…well Senior, Bishop…she had her family he supposed, but she was too new and hadn't actually been injured yet for him to make an assessment of her, Abby was adopted and Gibbs did tend to make sure he was there for her, Ziva…she had needed Gibbs' steady hand and guidance, before she had decided to forge a new path for herself, but Tim…?

Tim had always been quiet and unassuming, he had met his sister and grandmother through cases, both seemed to love him dearly, his father had been a bit abrasive and Tim hadn't talked about him in a long while. But he was surprised by what Tim had said in the elevator when they had left NCIS.

"McGee?" Gibbs had called as Tim and Ducky walked to the elevator, "Who's your Next of Kin? I can call them for you." he had offered.

"Don't bother Boss, I don't have one." Tim had said sadly as the doors closed.

Ducky had looked at the forlorn face of his friend as the doors shut, his injury making it hard to hide his pain.

"Timothy?" He said looking over at his friend.

"Not now Ducky." Tim said staring intently as the buttons on the elevator lit up and went out on each floor, as soon as the door had opened Tim had walked towards Ducky's car.

"Do you want me to call anyone?" he asked.

Tim climbed into the passenger seat. "No one to call." He said.

Tim sat on the bed waiting for his discharge letter as Ducky started to fall asleep.

Tim stretched feeling better as the painkillers took effect.

He looked around, why was he here? Delilah was upstairs, she had been injured in the blast and she needed him.

He quietly got off the bed and walked out of the ER heading up to the third floor where he knew she was.

As the door to the elevator closed Ducky woke up.

"Timothy?" he called, he stood up and walked outside their cubicle looking for a nurse. "Excuse me have you seen Agent McGee, he was in with a head injury, he was in yesterday's bombing." Ducky informed the nurse.

"I think he was heading up to the third floor to see Ms. Felding." She said, she had been in the ER when Delilah had been brought in and had been touched by his concern towards the young woman and his determination to be there for her.

Ducky nodded and grabbed his phone. "Jethro, I believe young Timothy may be in need of your presence." He said and not waiting for an answer mimicked the calls recipient and hung up on him.

* * *

Gibbs sat at his desk and looked concerned, he'd just finished making a few phone calls none of which had him feeling any better about the situation.

He had called Sarah McGee, who on realizing who it was hung up on him, twice. Then he called Penny Langston who had informed him that unless her grandson was dying they were not to contact him, but wouldn't elaborate as to why and then she too hung up on him.

He had tried calling John McGee's number only to find it was out of service.

Then Ducky had called and told him that Tim needed him and he too had hung up on him.

"Anything wrong Boss?" Tony asked.

"Heading to the hospital DiNozzo, you keep on with Bishop, we have to locate Parsa." He said and headed out.

"Tim's ok though?" Tony asked worried for his friend.

"As far as I know." Gibbs replied.

"Did you get a hold of his family?" Tony asked.

"No." Gibbs said not wanting to tell him what he knew and breathed a sigh of relief as the doors opened and he stepped inside.

Tony watched as Gibbs went and then turned his attention to Bishop and the hunt for Benham Parsa.

* * *

Tim stepped off the elevator and headed to Delilah's room. Her father and mother were in the room with her; she'd just got back from a second round of emergency surgery and was still unconscious.

Tim stepped inside the room, he didn't say anything as Delilah's mother was crying softly, but her father stood up and glowered at Tim.

"You have a nerve being here." He growled.

"I just wanted to see if she was alright." Tim said quietly not wanting to wake her.

Mr. Felding grabbed Tim's arm and yanked him out of the room.

"My baby girl is lying there, she'll probably never walk again and you're wondering around this hospital with hardly a scratch because you left her in there."

"I didn't mean…" Tim started and lights flashed behind his eyes as Delilah's father slammed him up against the wall.

"You didn't what, you didn't mean for my baby girl to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair…Go away, leave her alone, you've already caused her enough pain, this is all your fault, you could have spared her, you had a call warning you, she told us, you knew, you could have gotten her out, you're a waste of space McGee…GET OUT OF HERE!" he yelled.

Tim not seeing clearly stumbled back and landed on his ass looking at the angry looking man.

Stan Felding pulled back his fist ready to hit him as an orderly stepped up. "Sir, this is not the place for this, your daughter needs you."

Stan turned back and walked into his daughter's room. Before he closed the door he turned, "You come near her again McGee and I'll make you wish you were never born, she's not to see you again." He said.

Tim got up, tears of rage, frustration, and pain stung his eyes.

He walked blindly to the elevator and punched the buttons blindly.

"Sir?" the orderly walked towards him.

"I'm going already." Tim snapped, he turned not wanting to talk to the orderly and he headed for the stairs.

"But…Sir?!" the orderly called again, he had to stop as the door to the stairwell slammed shut and he was called back to the desk.

* * *

Gibbs and Ducky walked off the elevator and looked into Delilah's room, Mr. and Mrs. Felding were there but there was no sign of Tim.

"Excuse me?" Ducky said, "I'm looking for Delilah's boyfriend, Timothy McGee?"

"That…." Stan stood up, "That man is not my daughter's boyfriend, he left her to die in that center while he took a phone call…I'll tell you what I told him, he is not welcome here, my daughter will be better off without him."

"Tim?" Delilah said as she came round.

Stan turned his attention to his little girl, "It's ok baby, I made him go away,"

"No…you can't you don't understand, I'm all he has…daddy, he needs me…please…" Delilah fell asleep again.

"You're wearing her out, please…leave." He said as his wife held tightly to their daughter hand, listening to the reassuring beep of the machines.

* * *

Tim walked blindly up the stairs, he blinked in confusion as he opened the door to the roof, for some reason his brain thought he was going up to his apartment.

He walked to the edge of the roof and sat down, "Where am I?" he said to himself.

This was definitely not his apartment, his head was fuzzy and his heart hurt, he had lost his family, they didn't want to know him and now he couldn't see Delilah again? She had been his world; he'd gone to the damn award night even though he hated these things all because it made her smile. She had known what had happened she had soothed him and talked him down when he had been distraught over his families treatment of him thanks to his father's words, and now she was gone…No…not gone, that was too much like dead, she like his family had been taken from him.

He was alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Tim sat there, he didn't know how he'd ended up on the roof of this building, he thought he'd been at his apartment; the stairs had seemed the same, only he ran out of floors and ended up here.

He looked out over the city; it was pretty, all the lights sparkling in the semi darkness. He took a deep breath for a moment and relished the peace the sight brought him.

The door to the roof opened and a security guard stepped quietly out onto the roof watching the young man just sit there. He moved away and got his radio out.

"Front Desk…it's Andy in Security, we found Tim McGee, he's on the roof, I think you should send up a doctor, see if there's any family here." He said looking at the lost look on the young man's face.

Andy had been a D.C. cop for forty years, security at the hospital was his retirement gig, he had seen jumpers in his time, but he wasn't sure about this young man. He didn't have the look, or the stance of someone that was going to jump. He just looked lost, he reminded the older man of when he was younger and his own son had been four and had run off after a ball in the park, he'd looked just as lost when he'd found him sitting forlornly under a tree.

"Son, my name is Andy…what's your name?" he asked.

"Tim." Tim said not taking his eyes off the skyline.

"Why are you up here son, it's a bit chilly…maybe you should come inside?" He suggested.

"I was…I was inside…then…something happened…my apartments gone…" Tim said vaguely.

"Did you have a fire son?" he asked concerned, he took a small step closer to the man who didn't really move.

"No…there was…an explosion…something happened…people got hurt…I…my head…I…Delilah…she's hurt…but it's my fault…I didn't save her…I tired I looked for Parsa…I…" he trailed off.

"Did you find him; Parsa…is he your friend?" Andy asked.

"NO!" Tim looked over at the man for the first time, "He's the terrorist that sent the bomb…It was my job, I should have caught him, but I went to that Gala, I let the team down…I let Delilah down, it's my fault, I should have been better at my job…I've lost her because I wasn't good enough. I'm not vital to the team; I'm just a tool and a defective one at that…they were right. I would be better off if I just went away and pretended I didn't exist." Tim looked away; he took a step closer to the edge just wanting to see the view better.

Andy froze and sent a quick prayer up.

* * *

In the lobby, Ducky and Gibbs walked out of the elevator.

"Do you think McGee went home?" Gibbs asked.

Ducky shook his head, "I'm not sure, he was supposed to wait for some medication, it isn't like Timothy to just leave."

"He did earlier." Gibbs reminded him.

Ducky looked reproachfully at his friend, "He was alone earlier."

Gibbs gave a short nod, "You're right, I got caught up with Parsa and just figured McGee's family would be there for him."

"Did you get hold of them?" Ducky asked as they approached the front Desk.

The woman at the front desk listened to the radio announcement from security as they walked past.

"…Tim McGee on the roof, I think you should send up a doctor, see if there's any family here…" Ducky stopped as he heard the radio.

"Excuse me; we're looking for Timothy McGee…Did that message say he was on the roof?" Ducky asked worried.

"Are you family?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm his boss, is he on the roof?" Gibbs asked more forcefully.

She nodded, "We will send a mental health Doctor up, and they are trained in this situation." She said.

"Situation?" Ducky asked.

"Jumpers, you don't have to worry we have a specialist team for this." She said looking worried as both men turned and headed for the elevator.

* * *

Getting out and walking up the last flight of stairs to the roof they came across a doctor and two male nurses standing the other side. "Ok so you have the sedative, be aware this man was in an explosion earlier and has a head injury, I do not want him tackled to the ground, we don't know how stable he is right now, I don't want him to jump."

"Oh for goodness sake, he isn't going to jump." Gibbs snapped and pushed past them.

"No wait!" the doctor said as Gibbs opened the door and stepped out onto the roof Ducky and the others right behind him.

"McGEE!" Gibbs barked.

"Boss?" Tim turned and saw a whole load of people standing there. "What's? What's going on?"

"You planning on jumping McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"No Boss, I got lost…I couldn't find my apartment, I just wanted to get some sleep." He admitted.

"You were supposed to wait for Ducky?" Gibbs said.

"I didn't want to bother him…I went to see Delilah and…and… I….I guess I just forgot Boss." Tim sat back down and put his head in his hands, "My head hurts, I just wanna sleep…I'll be back a work tomorrow Boss, I won't let you down."

"Aw hell Tim, you've never let me down," Gibbs said moving forward and sitting down beside him.

"I let everyone down, my Mom, my Dad, Sarah, Penny, Delilah, her father…you…" he looked out over the vista again.

"Nice View." Gibbs said following his eye line.

"I thought so, but I thought this was my apartment…Boss, why am I here?" McGee asked, "Why are you here? Do you need me to go to work?" he asked.

Gibbs put his hand on Tim's shoulder, "Nope, you just need to get some sleep; I'm here to take you home." He said

"I can get a cab…" McGee said standing up and walking towards the ledge.

Gibbs grabbed his arm, "I think the cabs are this way." He said turning him towards the roof exit door.

McGee nodded and just followed.

As he got to the door the doctor moved in. "Mr. McGee, you need to come with me, we'll get you your medication and then you can head home with your friend ok?"

"My friend?" Tim asked, "I don't have any friends?"

"I'm sure you have a few friends," the doctor reassured him.

"Nope!" Tim said shaking his head and then groaning, "Ouch…Can't have friends, too busy, too much work to do…"

"What about your workmates?" The doctor asked as he walked Tim into the stairwell.

"Not friends, I'm a tool…I'm just there to find information….Boss!" Tim said as Gibbs moved up to his side surprised to see him there, "Did you need me at work?" he asked.

Gibbs shot a look at Ducky, "No Tim, but you need to go with the doctor and get fixed up."

Tim gave a strange look to Gibbs, "Yeah you wouldn't want a defective tool would ya boss."

"McGee…you are not a tool…" Gibbs reminded him.

"Not part of your family either, not like DiNozzo and Abby…" Tim swayed as a nurse pulled a wheelchair up to him.

"No Tim, You are you are a part all your own, I'm here for you son…" Gibbs said looking him in the eyes.

"You should do that…call me your son, I'm not anyone's son…John died but not before making sure everyone knew I was a useless son, I didn't even get to say goodbye. I thought he liked me, I thought we had come to an agreement, but he lied, he said I….he lied and now they all hate me, I tried to help Delilah…but I hurt her, I can't be in your family boss, I'll ruin it." Tim slumped in his wheelchair his eyes rolling back as the doctor crouched down to his side.

"He's got a bleed, we need to get him into surgery." The doctor said as the orderlies moved him onto a gurney and prepped him for surgery.

"Keep me informed, I'll be right here." Gibbs said as they wheeled him out.

Ducky looked at the anguish in Gibbs' face, "What did Tim mean Jethro? They all hate him. Who hates him?" Ducky asked as Gibbs sank onto a chair in the waiting room.

"His family Ducky, his family disowned him just before his father died, they didn't allow him to attend the funeral, Penny told me not to call her unless McGee was dead."

Ducky looked shocked at that news, "Tim has always been the most gracious of us all, what could he have done to have his family turn on him so badly."

"I don't know Duck, but I'm damn well going to find out." Gibbs growled and pulled out his phone.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N I am sorry for the delay in posting update, I've been away for a month for work, where the air is hot, the food is dusty and internet was way too patchy and I left my notes at home. But now I'm back and will be rotating all my stories on a catch up basis again.

Thank you all so much for your patience with me.

Disclaimer, if you know it I don't own it. :D

* * *

Chapter 3

Gibbs strode to the waiting room and called Penny Langston again.

"Penny, its Gibbs." He said curtly as he moved to sit in a chair near to Ducky.

"Gibbs, I told you not to call me, I don't care what he's done, he is no longer a part of our family," Penny said a note of sadness clear in her voice.

"I need to know why not?" Gibbs asked her.

"Timothy is not the young man we thought he was, he said and did some very hurtful things to this family and we decided that we would all be better off without him." She said honestly.

"What could Tim have done that was so wrong, that now he's been blown up and is in surgery for a bleed on the brain, that you don't care about him anymore?" Gibbs asked confused.

There was a pause on the other end as Penny took in what Gibbs had said about Tim's situation.

"I am…Sorry one of your team members were hurt, but Timothy cut his own ties, he accused his father of murder, he accused him of abuse and neglect and he…" she stopped as she remembered the look on her sons face close to the end.

* * *

John McGee, had called his family together and told them the facts of the last case he had been involved in, telling them that Tim had, to his face, accused him of murder, abuse and liking his second in command more than a son, more than his son.

John had been upset and horrified, Tim had according to John turned up while he was in the hospital and had spouted a stream of abuse at him, had accused him of truly terrible things and John had cried as he'd told his mother and his daughter what Tim had said. Sarah had told her mother what Tim was supposed to have said. Angela, Tim's mother had denied everything that Tim allegedly said and then she hadn't talked to him since worried that he would do the same to her new husband.

Sarah and Penny had gotten mad as John had told them exactly what he thought Tim had said about them. When the end had come and John had died, Timothy McGee had been told he was not, under any circumstances, to attend the funeral. He was not to contact the family and he was not to blacken the memory of his father any longer.

Penny sighed and told all this to Gibbs.

"When was this supposed to have happened?" Gibbs asked worried that Penny was telling the truth.

"Late last year, around July the 15th." She said "He wouldn't answer my calls and we couldn't get in touch with him."

"You wouldn't have done, we were under investigation by the Department of Justice, well actually I was, a kid called Parsons had it in for me and my team, Tim, Ziva and Tony all quit and went to ground with me, trying to keep the D.o.J off of any family they had. I know that Tim took it hard as he wasn't able to see his father while he was in hospital." Gibbs told her.

"No, you're making that up, John told me, he saw Tim in the hospital, and he said the most awful things." Penny argued.

"No, he was with us looking for a man named Ilan Bodnar; he was trying to stop Ziva from killing him. He didn't make it to the hospital at all, then when we had a free weekend I told him to go and see you all, he came back the next day, went to work and never said a word." Gibbs told her. "That was around the 2nd of August."

"That was the day after his parents disowned him and told him to leave them alone…so…you're telling me that Timothy…never…_**never **_visited my son in hospital at all?" Penny asked shocked.

"He can't have been in two places at once." Gibbs said.

"Oh…my…Gibbs, what have we done? I mean we had no idea, the nurses said John was agitated and we believed him."

* * *

"Excuse me Penelope." Ducky said listening into the call on the speakerphone. "Was Timothy's father on his cancer drugs at this time?"

"Yes he was, why? He was in the final stages of his cancer." Penny said defensively.

"Some of the medications are hallucinogenic there is a chance he could have been confused." Ducky said.

"Ducky! I would know if he was hallucinating, he was my son…" Penny stopped.

"Well Penelope, it is up to you, but don't you think if your son, through no fault of his own were hallucinating and made a mistake, then Timothy has paid unjustly. Did you not ask him whether or not he was telling the truth?"

"No, well… yes we asked him, but he didn't say anything, so we assumed it was true, his mother tore him off a strip, worried about him doing something to her new husband, Sarah was angry with him, Tim just stood there quietly and listened as they got angry with him and then he apologized turned on his heels and left." Penny told them.

Ducky looked sadly at Gibbs, "So basically, he'd just repaired his relationship with his father and left to keep you all safe and when he got back you all yelled at him, disowned him and banned him from his own father's funeral?" Ducky asked.

"Yes." Penny said sadly.

"My God Jethro, it's a wonder the poor boy didn't jump earlier." Ducky said.

"Jump? Who was jumping? Where…? Did Timothy try and kill himself?!" despite the way she had acted earlier, Penny still loved her grandson and this news sent a shiver of terror through her heart.

"Tim didn't try and jump anywhere, he was injured in an explosion, he's in surgery right now, he was alone at the hospital until we got there and he ended up on the roof of the building trying to find his apartment."

"Why was he alone, what about that girl he's been seeing?" Penny snapped.

"Delilah, she was injured in the same explosion; apparently she's going to be paralyzed. Apparently Tim had a run in with her father and he's forbad him from contacting her again." Ducky said.

"Tim has a skull fracture, he got it in the explosion…just as we got him down from the roof he had a bleed on the brain, this is why he's in surgery now."

Penny looked at the phone and sighed, she had promised years ago that she would always be there for Tim and she knew now that she had failed in that promise.

"Stay with him Agent Gibbs, I will call his family and I will be there soon." She said putting the phone down and crying for a few moments before picking up the phone to call Angela, Tim's mother.

Gibbs looked at Ducky, "Do you think she will actually come for him?"

"I hope so, but either way, I'm not letting him down again." Gibbs said looking worriedly towards the doors where he knew, Tim was undergoing his surgery.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Slowly Tim woke from the surgery, a nurse walked over and checked his stats and patted his arm telling him to rest, and that they would move him to a room soon.

Tim moved his mouth to talk but nothing came out.

He looked fearfully at the nurse. He couldn't hear or speak!

"It's alright, it sometimes happens following brain surgery, while the swelling lessens some people lose the use of something, it is probably temporary and will come back, I'll give you a pad and paper, do you have anyone waiting you'd like to see?" she asked.

Tim looked at her blankly. She grabbed a pen and paper and wrote some questions on. Tim wrote down the answers and then he shook his head and turned away.

He didn't want to see nor did he see the sad look she gave him as she left.

Penny, Sarah and Angela walked into the waiting room, Penny looked around for Gibbs and saw him and Ducky sitting in the corner staring at the doors Tim had gone through hours earlier.

"Agent Gibbs." Penny Langston said as she walked over to him.

"Ms Langston." Gibbs replied guardedly as he looked up at them.

"This is Angela Murray, Tim's mother and you know Sarah of course." She said making introductions.

Gibbs nodded; Ducky stood up and shook hands with the women.

"You here for Tim?" Gibbs asked.

"Of course!" Angela said looking down at him.

Gibbs got up and looked her straight in the eye. "Well you haven't been here for him for a while, so excuse me for asking." He snapped.

He walked over to the doors and looked through the window at the bustle on the other side.

"Gibbs?" Sarah said walking over to him, "We didn't know, we had no idea my father didn't really see him, and Tim didn't defend himself, he never said he hadn't been there…we just thought that…" she stopped as Gibbs turned on her.

"You ACTUALLY thought that Tim…Your Tim could be that callous as to attack a dying man in the hospital, I've only known him eight years and I know he's not that sort of man. I know that your father treated him like dirt when he was alive, and yet as hurt as he was and no matter how much the Admiral put him down when I first met him, he was kind and respectful the whole time to his father." Gibbs said.

Sarah looked down and her mother walked over to them. "We worked with the information we had Agent Gibbs, just like you do in an investigation."

"You _**knew**_ Tim; you know he wouldn't do something like that without a damn good reason." Gibbs said his anger starting to boil.

"Granted we made mistakes but we are here now to fix them, what about you and your team Agent Gibbs, where are the rest of Tim's teammates, I thought you were all like family, although from what I heard Tim never felt like he was in your inner circle." Angela stood toe to toe with him.

"He didn't…" Gibbs stepped away and sighed, "And that was my fault, Tim is such a kind unassuming person, that I thought he had the most perfect upbringing. I knew both his parents were alive and Sarah, when I met her was so assertive and feisty that I assumed he had been brought up in a loving home, it wasn't until I met the Admiral that I found out that wasn't exactly true." He looked her in the eye, "I made mistakes too, but my door was always open, I just never realized that the reason he didn't step through it was not because his home life was as perfect as I imagined but that it was more neglected than I imagined."

"I did not neglect my son!" Angela hissed raising her voice slightly and causing a staff nurse to look up at them.

"Mrs. Murray, please calm yourself, we could sit here and argue all day about the wrongs we have all done to Timothy, what we really need to do is focus on the now, and on the right thing we can do for Timothy." Ducky said guiding her to a chair and sitting her down. "Now Jethro, I will go and see how young Timothy is doing and maybe you could rustle up some coffee or tea, maybe young Sarah you could help him?" Ducky suggested.

Everyone nodded and Ducky moved away and headed to the nurses' station to check up on Tim's progress.

* * *

Sarah walked with Gibbs down the hall and got on the elevator heading to the Starbucks that was on the first floor of the hospital, (One of Gibbs' primary reasons that he insisted all his agents were treated at Bethesda.) As the doors closed Sarah looked at Gibbs, "Thank you." She said.

Gibbs looked confused.

She nodded understanding, "For not telling my mother and grandmother that you first met me as a suspect in a case." She clarified.

"I wouldn't betray your trust like that."

"I wouldn't betray Tim's, but you need to know, Mom moved out when Tim was 12, Dad and her would fight a lot, I was young but Tim kept me away from the worst of it. He was my rock, but mom she couldn't cope with the military life…" she stopped and looked down as the elevator doors opened, Gibbs took her into the coffee shop grabbed her a drink and one for himself and sat her down at an empty table.

"Here." He said handing her a drink and a sandwich he'd picked up.

She took it unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite, still avoiding Gibbs' eye. He waited, he could tell by the way she was holding herself that she wanted to say more and lacked the courage to do so.

Eventually she swallowed and turned to him.

"That wasn't exactly true." She said still avoiding eye contact.

"It wasn't." Gibbs said, it wasn't a question rather a statement of face, he knew she hadn't been telling the whole truth in the elevator, but which truth was truth, that was the question.

"Mom did leave when Tim was 12 and I was younger, but…she wanted to take us with her, Dad refused. He had come home from deployment and was being transferred to Alameda. Dad thought it would be a great opportunity, but mom didn't. Dad had been controlling in their marriage and mom, she had hated it, she'd been a good Navy wife, but she'd met a man. His name was Bill, he was…he was a Marine, and he treated us really well." She stopped to Gibbs could catch up and she could take a sip of her drink.

"Bill was everything a father should be, to me he treated me the same way dad did, I could do no wrong, he was kind fair and honest, to Tim he was right up on a pedestal," Sarah smiled, "Until this incident he still was… But our father, always had the notion that Tim wasn't his son, no son of his could have seasickness." She repeated hearing her father in her head.

"Timmy was small when he was born, premature. Dad said that he couldn't have been his as he was on deployment when mom got pregnant. Mom always swore Tim was his child, but Dad could never see it and he treated Timmy different when he found out about the seasickness. Suddenly everything both Mom and Timmy did was wrong. Tim spent six months once, making Dad a card for his birthday, it was a work of art, he gave it to dad and he threw it in the trash," Gibbs nodded he'd heard that story before. "Afterwards Tim cried…Dad took Tim out into the shed at the end of the yard. I don't know what he did there, but I heard the screams from my room and Tim didn't come out of his room for a week and he flinched when I touched him. That was when he started to stutter. Tim has never told me what happened there. But he never let me be alone with my father after that day, so when mom decided to leave, Dad was ok about Tim going but he fought for me. Tim told his mom he wanted to live with his father, she looked hurt, but I know now that Timmy was only staying to protect me." She said sadly.

Gibbs sat with his fists clenched under the table, how could Angela have allowed that situation.

"I don't think mom knew." Sarah said she stood up and put her sandwich in the trash, "The point I am trying to make Gibbs is that Tim didn't come to you when you told him he could, because he doesn't know how. He sees you as a father figure someone to please and to make people proud of. He doesn't know how to ask for help from a father, he was always taught not to bother his."

She walked to the server and ordered the rest of the drinks plus replacements for her and Gibbs' drink.

"They'll be wondering where we have got to." She said and turned with Gibbs picking up the remaining drinks and following her out.

* * *

In the waiting room Ducky finally managed to get a hold of the doctor who had performed surgery on Tim.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Travers, I was the surgeon on Timothy McGee's operation, I hear you are looking for me?" he said.

"I didn't mean to take you away from surgery doctor." Ducky apologized.

"Nonsense, we finished hours ago." Dr. Travers said confused, "They said you were his primary physician?"

"Yes Dr. Donald Mallard." He said holding out his hand and shaking the doctors.

"Of course I would have sent his notes to you eventually; I admit I am surprised you came down here for those."

"I am here with his family." Ducky said.

"But?" Dr. Travers looked confused.

"Is he alright?" Ducky asked as Gibbs and Sarah finally rejoined them.

"He's well, he made it through the surgery, there is a small complication, but we hope it isn't permanent. However he gave me this….Had I known there was family here I would have been out immediately to inform you of his condition." Travers insisted, he pulled out a note.

"Do you have family?" the note read.

"No…I'm alone, don't worry I'll be fine, I always am." It read.

"Do you need us to call anyone?" the other handwriting wrote.

Tim's handwriting shook, "No…I just want to go home." It said.

Ducky looked at the note and his face fell, "He has family and we are all here for him."

Dr. Travers' face lit up, "That is so good to hear, as I said there was a small complication as a result of which Mr. McGee made need some extra help for a while.

"What complication doc?" Gibbs said glaring at him.

"Mr. McGee…."

"Special Agent…" Gibbs interrupted.

The doctor sighed and tried again, "Special Agent McGee cannot hear or speak."


End file.
